Deaf Awareness Week 2017

In order to break down the barrier between the hearing and the deaf, Ciro Coffee Academy continuously strives to promote the training of disabled people within the barista community. With over 20 deaf baristas trained over the last five years, and a further 30 to be trained through our partnership with UNISA on the Short Course for Barista Skills, you will be sure to find a passionate, creative and skilled barista employed through one of our partners in the coffee industry.

Learn how to sign for your coffee or tea orders below:

This year, Deaf Awareness Week falls between 29th August – 4th September. The purpose of this week is to draw attention to deaf people, their accomplishments and their challenges in a working environment. Deaf Awareness Week is dedicated to educating the public about hearing loss, deafness, deaf culture and sign language and aims to ensure that hearing people understand deafness and the culture of the deaf community.

If you would like to enrich the life of a deaf person using coffee, you can do so through an opportunity to sponsor a deaf person to join a training programme that will see them become a qualified barista. The sponsorship is a mere R2 700 per person and this stipend will fund the candidate’s transport and monthly costs while they complete the Short Course in Barista Skills through UNISA – a NQF Level 5 certificate in the Department of Life and Consumer Sciences. Please contact Lani Snyman (lanis@ciro.co.za) for more information or Stuart Loftus (stuart@edeaf.co.za) to pledge your sponsorship.